Seeing stars at LAX: Giant portraits of Grammy nominees welcome travelers

Celebrity-spotting is a popular pastime at Los Angeles International Airport and for the next few weeks you won’t need to be a professional paparazzi to get a great picture of some bigger-than-life stars.

That’s because LAX and the Recording Academy have teamed up to install giant images of some well-known recording artists on 15 columns along the busy horseshoe-shaped roadway in front of the airport’s arrival level.

The 8-foot-tall adhesive vinyl banners feature portraits of James Corden, who will host the 59th annual Grammy Awards ceremony at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 12, as well as 2017 Grammy nominees David Bowie, Chance the Rapper, Miranda Lambert and Sia.

“We want to welcome visitors from around the world by celebrating the positive power of music,” said Evan Greene, chief marketing officer of the Recording Academy. “The world is a heavy place these days, so this campaign illustrates, in a light-hearted way, how music makes believers of us all.”

According to an airport spokeswoman, the 15 banners, which cost a total of $30,000 to produce and install, will remain on the LAX Lower Level columns for a short while after the 2017 Grammys are awarded and are part of an ongoing strategy to improve the overall experience for passengers at LAX.

“We are thrilled to work with The Recording Academy and the GRAMMYs to bring more LA into LAX.  This new installation ensures that when our guests travel through LAX, they get some of that LA vibe,” said Deborah Flint, chief executive officer of Los Angeles World Airports, in a statement. “These are the kind of unexpected extras that help put the fun back into travel as a warm welcome to the city of stars.”

Harriet Baskas is a Seattle-based airports and aviation writer and USA TODAY Travel's "At the Airport" columnist. She occasionally contributes to Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog. Follow her at twitter.com/hbaskas.